Mass Effect 1 Sniper Rifles Instal Kill Even When I'm in Cover

[CaptainChaos]

Can someone walk me through this pain. I'm in Noveria, and enemies are constantly one shotting me with sniper rifles WHEN I"M BEHIND COVER, CLEARLY. Also, there is no red light warning. Just death. I have died EIGHT TIMES IN A ROW. It's ridiculous. What am I missing?? Thanks for any help.

[stcaFylnO]

The best way is not to get hit. I know, I sound crazy, but it is the best defense. Use the roll of terrain (or terrain objects) to sneak within range. Enemy snipers can outrange the player's (player max is roughly 375 meters). Ally snipers won't fire unless attacked within a limited range :/ . So, park allies and keep forcing them to stay out of LOS. Next, creep forward until enemy can be sighted without them having a shot, preferably without being alert. Then hopefully surprise and take them out.

Standard cover may not help you. Use the roll of terrain, since just like you, enemy scopes may bypass. Shoot and scoot, don't let a single incoming round make contact. Get in position behind event horizon, so you can aim at head, then drop so terrain intercepts shots. Looking downward will change camera angle for spotting and enemies won't have LOS... then creep up, shoot, retreat.

You won't always see the red beam, so be careful: Spot enemies first, assassinate, then scoot to safety. You may see a red glow through the rolling terrain, a truncated red beam, or nothing at all in some cases. At all times, try to ensure only one enemy at a time has any LOS, prefearbly ineffective though. Also, don't forget to zoom in the scope at such extreme ranges, some enemies are very hard to see.

Once enemies hide, use explosiive rounds and rail type upgrades to make your sniper rifle into a cannon. Destory their cover, or use the AoE to dislodge them. If possible, launch them so they take falling damage too.

Use vehicles to run them down, blast them with AoE cannon, etc. Beware, enemies will wake up and target mako at extreme range, roughly 400 meters.

If main character has no sniper rifle, use that class's strength, like Lift them, or whatever. Getting in close is a good place to be, since they have slow rates of fire. But, make sure multiple damage sources cannot focus and/or supress your character. The vehicle is great for closing distance, a place for allies to hide behind, and even a free way to resurrect fallen allies. So many ways to shut them down and/or inerupt: Sabotage, Throw, Neural Shock, grenades....

Use allies as decoys, if they die, jump in mako to resurrect them.

Have an ally wear the survival gear vs. environmental hazards, not Shepard. Hide the ally; Shepard will have better defenses. Only one character needs to wear the survival gear.

If necessary, kill one, flee, exit vehicle beyond their alert range. If you can save, then enemies have lost aggro. Go in, kill another, wash, rinse, repeat.

Every little bonus may help, unless high difficulty:
Spending points to boost shields.
Spending points to boost Barrier.
Barrier as a bonus, but needs to be unlocked via achievments
Unllocking achievments that give passive bonuses is helpful.
Better armor to boost shields and damage reduction.
Use upgrades on armor to boost shields, damage reduction.
Look for talents like Fitness for more health and its Immunity for more damage reduction.
Level up more, for more points to spend.
Look for synergistic effects within talents, equipment, upgrades.

Yikes, I thought this would be a short answer. So many details and I doubt all are described.

[CaptainChaos]

what an amazing answer, thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to walk me through that. I was so frustrated b/c I always thought you saw the beam and that cover was total protection. Good advice, really appreciate you taking the time to write it!

[stcaFylnO]

no prob, you're welcome

[CaptainChaos]

ok, now I'm super frustrated. Basically I was 8th level and getting my a$$ handed to me. Now i'm 24th level have like 300 shields and it was cleaning up the regular batarian and varren no probelm but all the sudden the rocket troopers are somehow one hit one kill even when im in cover. WTF is going on seriously. This makes no sense. my other comrades can take 2-3 hits out in the open.

[stcaFylnO]

Try not to get hit. Rockets have splash damage, so you want to trick the enemy into missing by enough margin that Shepard is outside the blast zone. Cover won't and shouldn't save our butts if something goes pow right next to us. If no cover, just continually strafe, so they miss Shepard and the trailing companions (or force hem to hide). A lot depends upon our situational awareness and positioning. Instead of taking cover, just strafe around behind the cover so that it intercepts the rockets.

A great trick is to use Singularity on the celing, wall, or ground, to pull enemies out of cover. This even functions through energy barriers like those in the Cerberus facilities.

I've never fully tested the armor, shield, barrier, hardenging, and health thresholds vs. various attacks. It seemed easier just to interupt, incapacitate, and/or assassinate.

What is your Shepard's profession, armor and upgrades? Where are you playing currently? Can you increase your durability with a barrier and or increase damage reduction? Which companions are you using? Are they more durable than your Shepard? If so, why?

edit: I keep saying "hardening" when I mean "damage reduction" (damage protection). I tend to forget hardening is specifically for biotic/tech, while DR is physical.

[CaptainChaos]

Hmm ok. It just seemed as if something was wrong. my companions could take full hits but not me and I had more shields then they did. Do rockets bypass shields?

Shepard is an infiltrator. I don't remember the armor I had but I had shield modulator on it adding 90 shields.

I did find I CAN survive a hit but only with hardening which is the reason I am thinking rockets bypass shields?

Thanks for the advice. I didn't know that about Singularity.

Yes I try to be aware and fight tactically, but rocket and bam. And I couldn't taken cover. Was very frustrating but eventually I got through it by just sending my two companions out to take the heat and used immunity whenever I took a quick risk. Seemed silly.

[stcaFylnO]

So many details to think about, this is gonna be a bit long as usual. Also expanded previous and current comments with examples and references

Misc. Details:
It seems like you are between the basics and advanced elements of the game and progressing well. Other than that, we probably have different play styles and paths in game. For instance, after rescuing Liara, I'm ready to free-play. The first place I go with snipers is "UNC: Geth Incursions"; it is rare the squad takes even a single point of damage. Alternatively, I may detour and do all non-combat stuff for XP and loot to get higher level before Liara, but that is rare. If I have a non-sniper, this can really get my adrenaline pumping (in UNC: Geth Incursion), since it requires getting in range for biotic and tech abilities. If this is the case, I rely so heavily on boitcs and techs, enemies don't get to kill since they can't attack; I just flee/reposition/hide/embark during cooldowns, then spam them again; instead of DR and shield boosting, I try to reduce cooldowns and hyper spam biotic/tech during late game and subsequent playthroughs. I'll even use the Mako to knock-down, pin, and damage opponents, then jump out to kill them for more XP. Limiting enemy firing lines is key, so I don't get overloaded from multiple damage sources. Allies are just biotic/tech batteries for me, so I force them to hide unless I want extra fire-power or decoys. All their non-weapon abilites will function, even though they don't have line of sight, if within range. ;)
Example: Kaiden, Garrus, Engineer... that's a lot of Sabotage.
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/UNC:_Geth_Incursions

Glass vs. Rock:
I play Engineer and Infiltrators quite often and consider them to be glass cannons. It is easy to overlook defenses and extra damage potentials in builds. Snyergy in passive and active talent bonuses, along with achievmant bonuses, make noteworthy differences. To help realize more advanced elements in game design, reference the following links; compare the Soldier vs. Infiltrator for active and passive bonuses, notice the achievment bonuses (one of the reasons pistols are so fantastic); Egnieers are even more squishy for me, since I typically take Sniper Rifle as a bonus talent, instead of Fitness for Immunity (easy to get one-shotted on high difficulties). Note also, that Infiltrators can be built sturdy-ish, but I avoid taking damage and build for killing, since they will still feel squishy compared to a Soldier.
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Soldier
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Infiltrator
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Achievements
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Engineer

Bypass?
In ME 1, Shields and Barrier usually block all damage, unless overwhelmed, then damage reduction is important to preserve health bar. Exceptions? Things like toxins, temperature extremes, ammo upgrades (NPCs don't use upgrades though). Think about Wrex with Battlemaster armor, armor upgrades, Fitness/Immunity, Barrier, and class skills... he is an unbelievable tank. See:
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Codex/Weapons,_Armor_and_Equipment
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Urdnot_Wrex

Math & Armor:
To see another reason why a Soldier and higher level characters will be more durable, check out the following link: Level bonuses, heavier armor has higher base ratings, bonuses per armor type....
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Armor

More DR Info:
Damage Reduction and/or Barrier are valuable, since shields alone tend to get overwhelmed and even slammed with Overload. If your followers are Ashley and especially Wrex, they can laugh at incoming damage (depending upon difficulty, build, equipment). Possibly try experimenting a little: Start with passives from Light Colossus X armor (65% Damage Protection means DR), add Energized Plating X with 23% DR (up to 2 slots available), and/or apply Immunity for 50/60/80%. Now let a rocket hit. Repeat experiment witout upgrades and Immunity for a baseline (or even armor with less DR). Repeat with high shield rated armor, armor upgrades, and even varied ratings in Electronics, see which you prefer. Try mixing and matching too. Note that "Level 12: Master Barrier: Absorbs: 1000 points" (and accuracy penalty matters little if using talents). Although this is all worth learning, I'd rather just evade and incapacitate. Refs:
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Human_Armor#Light_Armor
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Armor_Upgrades
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Electronics
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Barrier

Immunity Eye Opener:
The higher the difficulty setting, the more valuable evasion, interuption, incapacitation, and damage reduction becomes (not to mention maximizing damage). As a quick experiment, repeatedly fight Cerberus Commandos. Make a save prior to entering faccility, then reload for each difficulty. Compare how much damage is done to those with and without Immunity actived. References for experiment:
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/UNC:_Cerberus
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Cerberus_Commando
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Fitness#Immunity

Bonus Topic (Ammo):
You didn't ask about ammo yet, but just incase you don't know: Save the salvage locations on planets (such as: Crashed Probe) for when the game is dropping level VII upgrades. Farm enough Shredder and Tungsten VII for subsequent playthroughs, since they will quit dropping at higher levels. The items randomize each reload. Having extra weapons is great, since it is faster to swap fully loaded weapons, rather than adjusting the upgrades individually.
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Ammunition_Upgrades

edit: I keep saying "hardening" when I mean "damage reduction" (damage protection). I tend to forget hardening is specifically for biotic/tech, while DR is physical.

[stcaFylnO]

edits to above posts:
edit: I keep saying "hardening" when I mean "damage reduction" (damage protection). I tend to forget hardening is specifically for biotic/tech, while DR is physical.

Changed word usage for consistency (mods/augments/upgrades to upgrades; fixed hardening vs. DR)

general typos

[CaptainChaos]

wow that was amazing! It sounds like you played this quite a few times.

This is actually my second play thru (the first many years ago) but I didn't remember getting owned so much as I described above. My characters are like 40th lvl now so they don't take much damage usually unless I get lazy and let melee creepers etc. overwhelm them. I use Immunity all the time and that enables me to take a full rocket or sniper attack.

I am in awe of your detailed BRs thanks your for sharing them. I'll check out the links. Thanks again so much!

[stcaFylnO]

No problem, you are welcome CC. I'm a bad twitch player and survive on details. I also have had lots of hellp in Steam, so I try to spread the love, which improves my own knowledge (research, experiments).

Yeah, I've played this one quite a bit. On PC version, I still have a couple achievments left, but now I'm distracted by Jagged Alliance. I hated it at first, but now I really like it. JA2 is one of my all time favorites, but finally getting around to the original.

[Isme]

Really exceptional post.

[stcaFylnO]

Originally posted by Isme:

Really exceptional post.

thx, glad to be of help, really glad to hear it is appreciated.

[UTSpawn]

I think it's a game bug. I often see sniper bullets pass THROUGH rocks and crates and hit my character.

[Peasant]

Originally posted by CaptainChaos:

Can someone walk me through this pain. I'm in Noveria, and enemies are constantly one shotting me with sniper rifles WHEN I"M BEHIND COVER, CLEARLY. Also, there is no red light warning. Just death. I have died EIGHT TIMES IN A ROW. It's ridiculous. What am I missing?? Thanks for any help.

You're not missing anything. It's complete ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. I'm playing ME1 Insanity now and it's genuinely one of the worst gaming experiences I've ever had. People say the red tracer warns you of shots. They're wrong. Sometimes it does but equally often you just die and the tracer appears afterwards. And you're absolutely right they sometimes shoot straight through cover. It's happened dozens of times to me. There's no solution.

I'd say just play on a lower difficulty. In ME1, the fun is in spamming overpowered abilities; there's no challenge either way, it's just do you want arbitrary frustration or not.

[Dogtor]

Dunno if it applies to insanity difficulty but you can adjust difficulty any time you want. I always do so when I find something ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ about a particular part of the game.